Sui-Whi, J., Wilkie, D.J., Galulucci, B.B., Beaton, R.D. & Hsiu-Ying, H. (2005). Effects of massage on pain intensity, anxiety, and physiologic relaxation in Taiwanese patients with metastatic bone pain. Oncology Nursing Foundation Ninth National Conference on Cancer Nursing Research. Retrieved from http://www.ons.org/publications/journals/ONF/Volume34/Issue1/pdf/ResCon…

This intervention was a 30-minute, full-body massage delivered by the first author after completing pre-test. After the intervention, the participant was instructed to lie quietly for 30 minutes before completing the post-test.

• N = 30
• KEY SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS: Taiwanese hospitalized patients with metastatic bone pain

• Quasi-experimental design

• Pre-test/post-test measures
• Repeated to examine the time effects of massage

Massage was shown to have effective, immediate, short-term (20–30 minutes; a 61% reduction in anxiety), intermediate (1–2.5 hours), and long-term benefits (16–18 hours) on present pain intensity and anxiety. The most significant reduction in anxiety occurred 15–20 minutes after the intervention. The results from ANOVA revealed a time effect of massage on anxiety visual analog score across time at a statistically significant level (F [10, 20] = 10.3, p < 0.001).

• Convenience sampling
• Small sample size
• Quasi-experimental design
• Lack of a control condition and possible response bias
• Well designed but not randomized